Workshop in Britain On Women and the Constitution
The Iraqi Women’s League branch in Britain organized a study workshop as part of its program entitled “Women and the Forthcoming Constitution”. It had earlier held a public meeting, with two speakers: Mrs Bushra Purto and Dr Reyadh al-Zuhairy, that dealt with issue concerning the constitution and state administration.
The Workshop, held on 3 July 2005, hosted a group of experts in the field of international and Iraqi law, in addition to figures who are active in culture and media, and activists in women movement.
Three main topics were discussed: state administration, Personal Status Law, and Labour Law and social security.
Discussions dealt with views about hopes for the new constitution, and the laws that will be governing Iraqi society in general and women in particular. Special attention was paid to women issues in this respect.
The Workshop produced a number of opinions and proposals, that were legally formulated by participating experts, with the aim of presenting then as recommendations to the constitution drafting committee in Iraq. Proposals regarding Personal Status Law and Labour Law will presented to the National Assembly. Iraqi Women’s League branch in Britain will continue its afore-mentioned program with the aim of supporting efforts to draft a secular and modern constitution that is in line with the present era.
Tareeq Al-Shaab: No. 110 - Year 70, 24 July 2005
Women’s Picket in Baghdad
Demanding Rights in Constitution
Activists in the field of women rights, representing a number of NGOs, organized a picket in Furdaws Square in central Baghdad on 22 July 2005.
They called for a constitution that upholds citizenship right, the law, equality, ensuring woman’s human rights, banning all forms of discrimination and violence against women, and guaranteeing women participation at no less than 40% in all positions of decision making, and to endorse international covenants and agreements of human rights.
They rejected specifying a limited time for the women participation quota in decision-making positions. They also expressed concern regarding the possibility of bringing back to life Decree 137 in the Constitution.
Iraqi Women Fight for Rights in the New Constitution
Tareeq Al-Shaab: 4 August 2005
Iraqi Women Call for Guaranteeing Women Rights in the Constitution
A meeting of women was held on Tuesday )2 August 2005) at the Convention Centre in Baghdad, and the following statement was issued at its conclusion:
"After discussing the issue of women in the Iraqi draft constitution, which has been recently put forward for national dialogue, a group of Iraqi women that represents Iraqi societal spectrum, agreed on the need for guaranteeing women rights in the constitution as an essential part of guaranteeing human rights of all members of Iraqi society and to achieve the principle of equality for all, irrespective of gender, race, religion, sect, or any other consideration outside the principle of citizenship.
Our aspirations for a democratic future for Iraq, where citizens enjoy equal rights regardless of gender, compel us to put forward the following recommendations:
1- Islamic law is to be considered one of the sources of legislation.
2- Abiding by all international covenants and agreements that regulate human rights and women and children rights, as well as those with special needs and that they should be regarded as a source for legislation.
3- To continue to abide by the percentage of women representation, such that it is no less than 25% in the three branches of power and decision making centres. This quota should be confined to a limited period.
4- Not to include any clause in the constitution that promotes ideological, religious, nationalist and sectarian bigotry.
5- Prohibiting the practice of any form of violence against women."
Kurdish women make a stand
By John Lloyd
Financial Times: May 15 2005
Dr Ariana Alazajani, an obstetrician and professor of medicine at Arbil University in Iraqi Kurdistan, has a number of reasons to be cautious about her future in post-war Iraq. One reason is because she is a Kurd, another is because she is a woman.
“When I studied in Baghdad, it was the same for all of us women,” she said, “none wanted a religion that held them down. But we Kurds had developed a different culture which is free of fundamentalism; men and women treat each other with respect.”
After 14 years of de facto independence, the status of women in Kurdistan is noticeably better than in the rest of Iraq, they say. They fear reintegration with the Arab-dominated south, and a government dominated by Shia fundamentalists.
The Kurds have constructed the outline of a democratic and secular society which they now see as threatened.
Dr Alazajani says all Iraqi women, not only Kurds, fear a shift to fundamentalism of the kind that happened in neighbouring Iran 25 years ago.
Though still largely absent from the senior ranks of power, whether political or economic, Kurdish women say that both their influence and liberties have flourished after Kurdistan was declared a safe haven by the US and the UK following the Gulf war.
Professor Vian Suleiman, one of 25 women in the 111-seat Kurdish parliament, still sees her identity as a Kurd rather than a woman. “There are lots of problems for the parliament, and some concern women. But I don't see myself being there as a woman, but as a Kurd. Iraqis regarded us as second class citizens not because we were women, but because we were Kurds.”
In truth, most meetings and public occasions are still run and attended largely by men. A gathering of political figures in Duhok, at which Professor Suleiman and other female MPs were speaking, had a slightly forced air, with the leading politician in the city yawning elaborately throughout the women's presentations. But if the progress is relative, it is felt as real and valuable, and to be quite distinct from the surrounding Arab societies.
In a meeting in Sulaimaniya of officials of the fledgling trade unions, a group of female officials, elected in the main from mixed-sex workforces, claimed that pay and conditions are equal, no jobs are barred to them and that women can organise successfully a claim echoed loudly by their male colleagues.
Baher Osman, a beautician, said she had organised hundreds of men and women in the city's beauty parlours and hairdressing salons. “Men and women can work together there,” she says, “It's unheard of anywhere else”.
Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU):
News Release:
DATE: Tuesday, 8 March 2005
SUBJECT: IFTU celebrates International Women's Day
Every year, women across the globe celebrate International Women's Day on 8th March, a day of global struggle and solidarity for women's freedom and equal rights.
The IFTU executive committee issued a statement today saying:
"We celebrate International Women’s Day with Iraqi women and women across the globe and pledge to continue our support for Iraqi women as they continue the struggle for building of free and democratic trade unions where they are at the heart of it; to achieve better wages and working conditions and for equal rights.
"The IFTU also support their demands for secular legislation that guarantees womens' rights to social provision in health, education and to create incentives to encourage women to enter work so as they could help to build a new and democratic Iraq and to eradicate illiteracy among women workers.
"The IFTU also supports Iraqi women as they struggle to enforce the International Human Rights Declaration and the ILO Declaration and standards of work as part of Iraq's new legislation.
"The IFTU is holding a celebration today at its headquarters."
c/o UNISON,
1 Mabledon Place,
London WC1H 9AJ.
Tel?: 00 44 79 76 84 68 68
Email: abdullahmuhsin@iraqitradeunions.org
- Statement ends -
Baghdad 7 March 2004
c/o Mechanics Union,
Baghdad,
Unity District 'al wahda'
Area 902
Street 12
House No 14
Greetings to all British women Trade Unionists and to delegates at the TUC Women's Conference
Dear Sisters,
We send our sincere good wishes and solidarity to all British women trade unionists on International Women's Day.
Women all over the world celebrate this international occasion as a spur to their struggles for social and economic rights.
For Iraqi women trade unionists, the key struggle is to build and strengthen the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU). Strong and vibrant trade unionism is a crucial component of democracy.
For us it is also urgent to increase the participation of women at all levels within the Iraqi trade-union movement: locally, nationally and, of course, in the leadership, as well as in wider Iraqi society.
The IFTU, alongside other Iraqi women's organisations, has resisted attempts to curtail women's rights, and have won the repeal of Law 137 which would have abolished many women's rights, including those of education, the custody of their children, inheritance and the right to divorce
Our aim is to achieve a secular and democratic Iraq that will secure women's social, economic and political rights.
We look forward to your support and solidarity.
In solidarity,
Women's Committee,
IFTU
7 March 2004